Week 13: 11/18 - 11/24
Prost, Amsterdam!
Looking over the canal!
Lucky Thirteen!
I slept in pretty late on Monday to recharge from our big Prague trip, and then I plugged away at some homework that I had ignored over the weekend. After everything was squared away, I made my way across the river and over to my Ceramics class by 3:30.
We worked on quite a few things in class today — our groups glazed and decorated our chess pieces, and then we decorated the skulls we’d made a few weeks ago. Mine’s really bad, so you won’t be seeing it. After that, our professor introduced our last project: a set of clay characters. In order to practice figure-making, we each made a small owl.
On Tuesday morning, Virginia came back from some errands with a few surprises — some little Christmas decorations! She made us close our eyes or leave the room while she put up tinsel, red bows, little snowman chocolates, and even some tiny Christmas lights. It was so sweet and cheery! All of us have been feeling a little Europe-d out lately, so the decorations were a nice surprise.
Sweet little Christmas decorations, courtesy of Virginia!
After Virginia finished transforming the living room, the two of us set off to visit one of her favorite coffee shops and get some work done. It was really cute! The study area was situated in a little library room, so we plugged away at our homework with some cappuccinos and sandwiches. I got to work on my paper for History class (homosexuality in Ancient Rome, if you’re curious) and take some notes on the textbook.
The library at Brac.
Class went well — our professor was in a good mood again, and she moved quickly through the day’s lecture. We learned about the Black Death, and she even set up a very performative analysis of two Youtube videos. After class, Virginia and I headed home and I grabbed a pizza — I had been craving the taste after missing it over the weekend!
On Wednesday, I had HR Management in the morning. We had a guest speaker in class: representatives from Nume, a virtual-reality medical learning program with simulated patients and surgeries. It’s funny to me that this HR class deals so much with the healthcare industry; our professor works in HR for the Florence hospital, so all of his connections happen to be in medicine. In any case, they’ve been quite interesting. It was weird to think about how well-equipped all of our medical students must be now with online anatomy books and virtual-reality patients. My dad had to figure it all out with a pencil and paper! And maybe a cadaver or two.
On Thursday, I bustled through the early-morning cold and made it to Mafia class. We talked about some of the international crime that the world is currently facing, like the crazy world of drug-trafficking in Venezuela and Russia, and then split up into groups to write a paper about the ethics of criminal punishment. After class, I walked over to an Australian cafe called Melaleuca; everyone in our program raves about it. According to my friends, they’ve got all kinds of American-style food like bagels, eggs, and their infamous cinnamon rolls. I pretty much blacked out when I got to the counter, so I didn’t grab a bagel like I had planned to. Instead, I ended up with a cinnamon roll and a hot latte. Neither were very good! I let Virginia have the rest of the roll when I got home.
I took a shower and got myself ready before packing up my things for my final weekend trip abroad — Amsterdam! Brelan and I hefted our things over to the airport tram at Santa Maria Novella for our 5pm flight. The questionable security team whisked us through TSA in record time, and then before we knew it, we were on the plane to the Netherlands!
We landed in Amsterdam at 7pm. It was freezing (about 35 degrees), and raining, so we hopped on the bus and eventually made it to our stop in the Museum district. The hotel we reserved was nice — quiet, well-decorated, and comfortable. Once our things were settled, Brelan and I headed across the street to a sweet neighborhood Italian restaurant called Le 4 Stagioni. It was full of locals, lots of wine, and friendly Dutch conversation floating in the air. We really enjoyed it!
The next morning, Brelan and I woke up early to make it to our 9:30 breakfast reservation — we had researched options the night before, and come up with one called Mood Cafe. Interestingly enough, the restaurant was inside the lobby of a gym! We sat down at a table stabilized with a 20 kg plate, and settled in while Dutch men in workout clothes came inside for their morning pump. Aside from the ambiance, the food was pretty good, and we were pleasantly surprised with our experience.
Look at my yummy yogurt bowl!
After breakfast, Brelan and I walked over to the Museumplein and made it into the Van Gogh Museum for our 10:45 tickets. We shielded our eyes from the gift shop (everyone knows that’s a reward for after) and headed into the exhibit on the first floor. Vincent Van Gogh was a spectacular painter, but his life story was a sad one. He was clearly struggling with a lot of mental problems, which some experts now argue could have been epilepsy, bipolar disorder, or even lead poisoning. Without today’s medicine or appropriate therapy techniques, Van Gogh suffered; he spent most of his life experiencing mental health crises and checking into mental institutions. Amidst all of this, Van Gogh emphatically painted stunning works, to a point where at one time, he made 75 paintings in 70 days. I can’t imagine finishing even one of his oil paintings in 75 days.
His work was stunning. We spent a few hours looking around at everything, and then we finally rewarded ourselves with the gift shop. I grabbed a postcard and a pin for my collection, and then we went on our way.
We had some time to kill before our next activity, so we spent some time exploring the city. We walked around the canal streets and headed closer to the city center, and we even peeked into a few antique stores. I loved seeing all of the little KLM houses and the gorgeous Dutch pottery! We grabbed burgers for lunch at a little spot called Lombardo’s — mine had cheese, mushrooms, and some kind of sauce that I’m sure my sister is capable of recreating. Other than our mediocre potatoes on the side, we loved the lunch.
We walked over to the Heineken Brewery at 2:30 for our tour. It was pretty cool! We’re not really beer girls, but it was interesting to learn about the history of the family business and see how it contributed to Amsterdam’s growth. We also learned that they were the very first international beer to be imported into America after Prohibition ended. After our tour, we received our free beers, yelled “Prost!” and hung out in the Heineken bar for a little bit before exploring the gift shop.
After Heineken, Brelan and I walked back to our hotel to put some stuff down before our final excursion of the day. Unfortunately, we got caught in the world’s worst rainstorm — 30 minutes of walking, rain blowing practically horizontal, and of course, the freezing temperature. That killed my spirit a little bit, and it soaked my jeans, so I did a quick outfit change and hugged the radiator before we were due to get on the tram.
After a quick trip on the tram and a little walk, we made it to the Anne Frank House at 5:30. I was taken aback by the size of the building — based on the name, I had always pictured a quaint little Amsterdam house wedged between its neighbors like so many we had already seen. Instead, her family’s hiding place was built into the attic of her father’s workplace, so it was pretty large and industrial. We grabbed audio guides and followed the queue inside.
Her story was obviously quite upsetting. Her family survived in their hiding place for almost two years — living in near silence, unable to even use the bathroom for hours at a time, and made to feel less than human. Worst of all, her family was found at the very end of the Nazi’s regime — according to the museum, they were put on the last train to the camps before they were shut down. If their timing had been different, they might have survived.
After the tour, Brelan and I explored the internet until we found a restaurant for dinner: Kagetsu, a Japanese restaurant just a few blocks away. It was cozy, filled with wood accents, ceramic decanters full of sake, and a sweet little Canadian family next to us with restless children. Brelan and I ordered the same thing, miso soup and teriyaki salmon, and it was insane. We had a really nice time enjoying our delicious, hot food before having to make our way home in the cold night.
The next morning, Brelan and I woke up a little later, packed up our things, and walked to the busier side of the city for breakfast. We got bagels at Flo’s Delicatessen, a decidedly American-style spot, and they were delicious. I got a garlic salt bagel with cream cheese. Brelan and I spent our morning shopping and exploring some of the smaller excursions in the city — the Tulip Museum, cheese shops, floating stores, and countless antique stores with Dutch ceramics. After a few hours, we gathered our bags and took the bus back to the airport. In a few hours’ time, we were back in Florence — home sweet home!
Brelan and I both slept in pretty late on Sunday. We shuffled around the apartment for a little bit, and then I ended up heading across the river to meet my friends, Mia and Sienna, for brunch. Mia’s older brother Sal was visiting, so I got to meet him too! He studied abroad in Florence back when he was in college, so he had a few funny stories about the spots we frequent.
After brunch, the four of us headed over to the newly-opened Christmas market at Piazza Santa Croce. It was swarmed with people, so navigating it was pretty frustrating, but the stalls were nice! The vendors mostly offered food — German soft pretzels, pigs roasting on a spit, hot melted cheese, and mulled wine just about everywhere you looked. We were full from brunch, but we did grab some wine and eye a couple of places that we’ll have to come back and try. It was a nice afternoon!
My trips are officially over! Study abroad is quickly coming to an end (just three weeks left!) and I’m trying to stay grounded while I’m here. I want to be grateful for each cappuccino, walk across the river, and bowl of pasta while I’ve got them.
Thanksgiving is on Thursday! I’m a little bummed to be missing the big day back in America, but I'm more focused on the fact that my mom and aunt are coming on Saturday (!!!!) In just a few days, I’ll get to show them around the city that I’ve gotten to know so well.
Bye for now!!
Charlotte